The Best Peanut Butter Cookies

Who doesn’t love peanut butter cookies?

Our peanut butter cookies made appearances year-round growing up. Actually, my whole childhood was filled with delicious treats that my lovely Midwest Mother made for us kiddos just as her mother made for her.

My four daughters are now the fourth generation to share their love of baking this peanut butter cookie recipe with their families because they ask to make these all the time.

Anyway, back to these awesome cookies. Through our travels around the world (thanks to the military), we learned, when we shared these with friends, that many other families viewed peanut butter cookies as a Christmas treat. Not something that is enjoyed year round.

I mean, I suppose they have a point about it being a Christmas treat as Christmas baking wouldn’t be the same without Peanut Butter Cookies. But, we just also eat them in the spring and summer…and let’s be honest, the fall too. If you’d like to read more about our family tradition of making mass amounts of Christmas goodies each year, check out our Russian Tea Cakes post.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• pinch of salt
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup peanut butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F degrees

Start by creaming the butter, that is, whipping the softened butter in a bowl with a whisk until the butter is smooth and “creamy” looking. This is an important step as it dramatically changes the texture of the end result.

After “creaminess” has been achieved, add in everything else until all ingredients are fully combined into a dough.

Use a small cookie scoop (or a spoon) to form dough into balls. Then, use a fork dipped in flour to cross section vertically and horizontally on each cookie. The flour is so the cookie doesn’t stick to the fork.

Bake 7-10 minutes until golden brown. Remove, and allow the peanut butter cookies to cool on pan 3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.